The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing highly precise etched bodies, such as fused silica or quartz bodies used in guidance instruments. The presently used masking procedure for etching such quartz uses combinations of waxes and metal masks to provide the resist image. Such a prior art technique is similar to that found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,255 which is concerned with a masking method for semiconductors in which a wax film is applied to a surface covered with a metal mask which allows the wax to wicks corresponding to metal mask pattern.
Such a procedure is expensive and tedious and does not result in a highly accurate etched pattern on fused silica.
Other prior art methods of using a masking film with a pressure sensitive adhesive for etching bodies such as printed circuit cards are not suitable for the present application because such adhesives are not sufficiently chemically resistant, and would not result in the high quality lines and pattern definition required in the present application.